“I’m not trying to be sarcastic by asking you that. The JAM may be some sort of virtual species. That’s what we humans would have to call an entity we cannot actually perceive. We don’t really have a general concept to describe something that we absolutely cannot perceive. That’s why the JAM couldn’t answer. I’ll bet that if the JAM asked us where our true form is, they couldn’t directly perceive us with whatever senses they have, simply owing to the nature of their own existence. To the JAM, humans probably seem like virtual beings too.”
“When I said that they might be imaginary, all I meant was that they were an illusion that had been dreamed up by humans,” Foss said. “But that isn’t the JAM that’s shown up here. It’s definitely a being you could either believe in or not. Does that still make it a virtual being?”
“A being you could believe in or not may still be an illusion, Edith.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a philosophical question,” Major Booker said.
“I’m not sure I’m following you.”
“The philosophical question of what exactly is something that you can believe in or not. In short, what defines a being that absolutely exists and how do you integrate such a thing into yourself. Aside from Asian philosophies, the philosophies we’re familiar with have a long history of grappling with the question of whether or not beings can absolutely exist.”
“You mean the JAM really may not exist?”
“In one sense, that is possible. There are a number of ways that you can put it. There’s also the idea that the question of what is absolute existence is nothing but a play on words. Put another way, the ability for humans to think about such things and develop such questions makes the questions themselves meaningless. From there, a new way of thinking emerges.”
“What sort of way?”
“That absolute existence, which is perhaps a god, or an agreement between subjective and objective perception—there are many ways to express it, anyway. The long and the short of it is that this way of thinking doesn’t affect how we exist. It’s a momentary thought—yes, truth is informed by human cognition, and anything beyond that is simply an individual question.”
“So, those who believe in them should believe and those who don’t shouldn’t, you mean?” Foss asked.
“Well, I suppose you could put it that way. But an ephemeral way of thinking could distort the perceptions of what’s right in front of you.”
“Of course it would. The JAM can’t simply be dealt with as a personal matter.”
“Which is why we’re here asking that question. I guess what I’m getting at is that we can’t avoid asking philosophical questions as we ask things like what is it that makes us so certain that the JAM exist? What are they? What is their true nature and what is the essence of it? If we accept the fact that their true nature is beyond human understanding, then all we’re doing is groping for a new general philosophical concept. The JAM have been working out what humans are from their end. I’m sure that what they think of us is entirely different from how we think of ourselves. But what we know for certain is that they’re searching for features common to all humans. That’s why they made contact with Captain Fukai.”
“Except that we don’t have time to be arguing philosophy here. There’s no way to answer philosophical questions, anyway,” Foss said.
“That isn’t true. Philosophy is the study of how to question the meaning of existence and how to live happily. Happiness varies according to the era and the individual, which is why there are no universal answers to philosophical questions. However, you can verify them for yourself. If your philosophy can let you accept death, you’ll know. And if philosophy is too grandiose a way of putting it, then call it your worldview. In order to counter the JAM, we need to change the worldview we’ve held till now. Captain Fukai has managed to do that; he’s said so repeatedly. As his doctor, you know that, Edith. And it was Yukikaze that changed his worldview, not the JAM.”
“Major, it’s almost as if you’re saying that the JAM are like gods, and that we need to think about whether or not they exist.”
“It certainly seems that way, doesn’t it?” Booker said.
“I’m surprised. I always figured you were an atheist, like everyone else in the SAF.”
“Whether gods exist or not, we can still live, all the same. That’s what I think, and I believe it’s the same with the JAM, whether they exist or not.”
“I beg your pardon?” Foss said.
“If you don’t agree, then you’re telling me that you’ve accepted the JAM as gods with an objective existence; you’re preaching the religion of JAMism.”
“Hold on there, Major. Then what is it that you’re doing here?”
“I’m explaining to you that if the JAM can’t be directly perceived by humans, then I believe that we can’t fight them without bringing up certain philosophical questions. If the JAM are not physical entities, you can’t simply say that they exist whether you believe in them or not.”
“So how do we make this more definite, Major Booker?”
“We search for exactly what the JAM threat is. If we find that it’s an illusion, then we don’t have to fight.”
“The SAF can’t just abandon the battle now, surely.”
“That’s General Cooley’s job to decide, not yours, and your profacting report on the JAM will be used by her as a major ingredient in determining what decision she makes. Now add in data Yukikaze has brought back. It may be possible now to verify the threat the JAM pose. I have a feeling that we won’t be able to immediately verify your suspicions about the JAM’s true nature. And even if humans in the future judge what we do here as a complete waste of time and history decides that we made a mistake, it’s all we can do now. History’s verdict has nothing to do with us. Either way, we won’t be alive to see it, and that’s true if we die content or cursing our bad fortune. I couldn’t care less about the future. All we can do now is what we believe is best, and that’s how anyone with a brain in their head has lived and died throughout all of history.”
“You think the JAM are like gods, huh?”
“The same way that humans must appear to them,” Booker said. “We’re equal in that respect, and there’s nothing to fear from it.”
General Cooley stopped reading there and took a sip of her tea.
Even if the JAM were like gods, it was nothing to fear— How very typical of Major Booker, Cooley thought. The JAM and humanity were equal in his view. If the JAM are gods, then so are we, he’d told Captain Foss. He’d explained that she should leave out the god angle as much as she could. And even when Captain Foss had still brought it up, he’d told her not to be afraid. Don’t fear the JAM, don’t blindly accept them, just determine the true nature of the threat they represent. That was his way of lending the young doctor support.
But the truth was that their relationship with the JAM wasn’t equivalent, because humans formed collectives. Indeed, Captain Fukai and Yukikaze had fought the JAM on equal terms and had returned to tell about it. Major Booker, too, could argue with the JAM on equal terms with his philosophy. But there was no way that every human was capable of such accomplishments. I put the SAF together to place us on equal footing with JAM, General Cooley thought, and to do that I created a group of individuals with a single purpose, just I supposed the JAM to be. There was no way they could equal the JAM unless not a single person in the group defied her.
Almost from the day she was born, General Cooley had wanted one thing: power. Overwhelming, unquestionable power. Power that would let her declare that the world was hers, that would allow her to argue on equal terms with the gods. From the typical desire for authority most people have, the feeling grew into a palpable sensation inside her. It was probably a base instinct in humans, born out of being social animals. If she were like a cat, a natural loner, then she’d only rely on herself to hunt for food or defend herself from enemies. But wolves and humans weren’t like that. Without a good leader, the entire group would be threatened. We create gods out of our desire for an external leader. A life-form that lives independently has no gods because it doesn’t need them.